When facing family or relationship difficulties, does seeking help at Sheng Zhen Men mean only prayers and rituals?

It involves more than prayers and rituals. We also sit and talk with people who come, looking at what is truly keeping them stuck. Problems in family, relationships or work sometimes require more than an answer. People also need to clarify their own thoughts and how they relate to others.

Looking back over more than ten years of service at that time, our earlier work involved more rituals. Later, I felt the work increasingly resembled accompanying people as they sorted through their concerns. If someone felt their family did not care, we explored that feeling and whether communication was possible. If they were stuck on one idea, we considered other perspectives. However, we are not professional doctors. What we share comes from our experience of religious service and accompanying people.

Prayer and worship are forms of help we can offer through faith. At the same time, we hope people can see what directions remain open for their own effort. If someone cannot think of a way forward for the moment, they can think together with another person. Keeping hope in the heart and finding strength to continue facing things are important to me when helping others.

Dao Jing once shared a childhood experience of being left behind and not knowing how to get home. Similar situations still caused fear in adulthood. Discussing concerns like these means gradually examining what happened then and how that relationship is understood now. This was Dao Jing’s experience, not my childhood. Accompanying someone is more than rushing to offer a comforting sentence. We hope the person has an opportunity to recognise their feelings afresh.